Kakuzu sensed that the Lightning Spear would shoot at his main body. He couldn't bother with the pain of losing a heart and immediately rolled on the ground in a sorry state, shooting out black threads to bind the surrounding trees and pull himself away.
He barely managed to dodge Gusion's attack, narrowly avoiding having the Earth Release heart in his main body stopped.
"Calamity! Wait a minute! I'm not your enemy!"
Seeing Gusion coming to kill him again, Kakuzu shouted hastily.
While swinging through the forest like a spider using his black threads, he explained, "I'm here to invite you to join Akatsuki. I was just testing your strength!"
Having lived for over eighty years, Kakuzu's secret to longevity was knowing when to yield.
Facing the weak, he could maintain his cold, aloof persona, pointing fingers and bragging about his glorious days fighting the First Hokage.
But facing the strong, he knew when to back down. Just like back then when he realized he couldn't beat Hashirama Senju—he simply ran away, not caring about his pride.
"Oh? You're inviting me?"
Upon hearing Kakuzu's invitation to join Akatsuki, Gusion's blade barely stopped before Kakuzu's last heart. He smiled and said, "Your attitude for inviting someone isn't great."
Actually, Gusion had guessed from the start that Akatsuki might come to invite him. After all, he was a well-known rogue ninja, and he had displayed Kage-level strength. Akatsuki had every reason to recruit such a reserve member.
But Kakuzu obviously only had his eye on Gusion's bounty. Attacking right away, Gusion didn't mind trying to see if he could score an epic loot box.
Honestly, killing Kakuzu outright didn't matter—Akatsuki was a place where the strong devour the weak. Killing Kakuzu and joining in his stead was entirely possible.
Gusion pondered for a moment. He figured Kakuzu, as Akatsuki's treasurer, might be useful to his future plans, so the tip of his Mazuko blade slowly withdrew from Kakuzu's body, stopping short of the last heart.
Seeing Gusion sheath his blade, Kakuzu breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, he understood that putting away the blade was only a gesture—at this distance, Gusion didn't even need a blade to kill him.
With Gusion's lightning attacks having no wind-up, at this distance and in his current state, Kakuzu knew he couldn't predict or dodge in time and would be fried to a crisp.
Kakuzu used his black threads to prop himself up and looked at Gusion. "Calamity, your strength exceeds my expectations. I believe the leader will be very satisfied with you."
"I haven't agreed to join your organization yet," Gusion replied, not agreeing immediately. "What's in it for me?"
Kakuzu was stunned. Honestly, it was his first time seeing someone ask, "What are the benefits of joining Akatsuki?"
To be fair, most of the current members were schemers with their own agendas. But had any of them actually benefited from Akatsuki?
It seemed… not really.
After all, Akatsuki didn't protect its own members. Even if they died on a mission, the organization wouldn't avenge them.
Kakuzu thought he couldn't just tell Gusion about Akatsuki's grand dream—ruling the ninja world, creating true peace through force.
He doubted Gusion, a battle maniac, would be moved by such a reason.
Honestly, even Kakuzu didn't care much about the leader's ideals. He just found Akatsuki comfortable and it didn't interfere with his money-making.
"Calamity, maybe you haven't been active outside these years, so you don't know our organization well. The leader is currently the strongest in the ninja world. Once you join, you'll have access to intelligence, secret techniques—everything."
Kakuzu tried to persuade Gusion with basic benefits. "As a rogue ninja, you probably have nowhere to go. Why not come with me and check out the organization?"
Seeing Gusion unmoved, he added, "Besides, our organization usually operates in pairs. Two experts together are much safer. Even the Five Great Ninja Villages can't keep you—you won't have to worry about being hunted."
He said this because he knew Gusion, like himself, was an internationally wanted criminal—the type that would be hunted everywhere.
"Oh? You work in pairs? Then where's your partner?"
Gusion asked playfully.
Kakuzu was a bit embarrassed. "He ran into a little accident a few days ago."
Seeing Kakuzu's awkward look, Gusion didn't push him further. After all, this guy was an old ninja—if cornered, he might fight to the death.
Although Gusion wasn't afraid of Kakuzu's desperation, he still needed this treasurer, so he said, "Alright, I'll go with you and take a look."
"Calamity, you won't regret your decision. The three Sannin of Konoha—Orochimaru is also in Akatsuki. I'm sure you'll have a lot to talk about."
Kakuzu said this partly to reassure Gusion and partly to hint that Gusion should team up with Orochimaru in the future.
He currently had no partner, but he'd rather team up with Sasori the art maniac than someone like Gusion.
"Lead the way."
Gusion nodded, sheathing Mazuko. He'd been wanting to find Orochimaru anyway.
He'd searched the Land of Rice Fields without finding a trace of Orochimaru. After joining Akatsuki, it'd be easier to find him.
…
Half a day later, under Kakuzu's guidance, Gusion arrived at a cavern.
Kakuzu gave Gusion an Akatsuki ring—this was given to him by Pain beforehand. The ring was engraved with the character "Shu".
With this ring, Gusion could now use the Astral Projection Technique to participate in Akatsuki's remote meetings.
Nagato wouldn't let Pain meet every new member face-to-face. In fact, even within Akatsuki, few knew the leader was based in the Land of Rain.
As treasurer, Kakuzu knew, but without Pain's orders, he wouldn't bring Gusion directly.
Usually, when new members join, a remote meeting is held for introductions. Afterwards, they form pairs, and unless there's a mercenary mission, everyone does their own thing.
After being told the hand seals, Gusion tried the Astral Projection Technique but failed the first time.
Under Kakuzu's strange gaze, Gusion calmed his mind and tried again. This time, instead of using pure soul energy, he tried gathering chakra like a native of this world and succeeded.
Gusion sighed inwardly at the trouble. He had no intention of switching to this world's chakra system. There wasn't much in the Naruto world worth his attention—maybe just some Lightning Release secrets, Sage Eyes, Sage Body, Tailed Beasts, and Sage Arts.
Secret techniques aside, the rest weren't closely tied to the chakra-ninjutsu system. Honestly, the later stages of Naruto are just god-level battles.
Who among the top experts even uses hand seals and chakra properly? It's all about clapping hands and shouting for Sage Arts.
Compared to Sage Eyes and Sage Body, chakra ninjutsu seems fancy but powerless. In fact, the planet's original natural energy system—Sage Arts—still has some uses.
In terms of system ceiling, the chakra system is far below Bleach's spiritual pressure system, so Gusion wasn't planning to switch—he just wanted to reference a few secret techniques and take what was useful.
Oh, of course, pure Shinigami also have limits, but Gusion figured he could ask Aizen for advice when he got back.
At this moment, once the technique succeeded, Gusion's consciousness opened his eyes and found himself on the finger of the Gedo Statue, surrounded by several figures.
On his left was Kakuzu, who had invited him. On his right were Jūzō Biwa and another Akatsuki member he didn't recognize—probably someone minor who hadn't survived to Akatsuki's main period in the original story.
Opposite Gusion stood Sasori in his puppet, with Orochimaru next to him. Orochimaru was staring intensely at Gusion, with a creepy smile and tongue licking his lips—not sure if that was supposed to be friendly.
"Calamity Gusion, welcome to Akatsuki."
The voice came from the leader's seat, drawing Gusion's gaze—it was Tendo Pain, controlled by Nagato. Next to him stood a woman, Konan.
"Just us? I thought this was a huge organization."
Gusion pretended to be unfamiliar with Akatsuki and asked.
Counting himself, there were only eight people present. Konan and Pain rarely did missions.
Orochimaru was always researching, Sasori always making puppets, Kakuzu obsessed with money—honestly, it seemed only Jūzō Biwa's pair actually did missions.
The supposedly infamous Akatsuki only had eight members, with just two seriously working…
"We only need the strong. More weaklings are just burdens."
Pain said, "Since you're here, Kakuzu must have explained the basics. I'll tell you about Akatsuki's goals and plans."
"Please do."
Gusion replied politely. He also wanted to see if Nagato's goals had changed due to the Explorer's influence.
"First, we must amass a large amount of money to prepare for the future. Second, as a mercenary group unaffiliated with any nation, we'll stir up small wars, monopolizing commissions from small countries at low prices, expanding the scale of war, then breaking the major villages' ninja system and monopolizing all wars."
Pain said simply, "We've done well with the first two steps—Kakuzu has gathered a lot of funds, and as a mercenary group we're already famous."
At this, Gusion asked, "What do we spend all our money on?"
Pain was silent for a moment, glanced at Konan, and said, "War reserves."
Gusion wanted to retort: were you using it all to make explosive tags? If Kakuzu knew how you spent money, he'd cry.
"Calamity, be patient. Our second step is progressing smoothly. Our ultimate goal is to rule the world with absolute force and end war forever."
Pain continued, "To that end, we're now going to start collecting Tailed Beasts."
Gusion fell silent as he listened. He realized this world had changed a lot—Akatsuki had become active earlier and started collecting Tailed Beasts six or seven years ahead of schedule, leaving no time for Naruto's generation to grow.
But this was good for him. If he wanted to hunt Soul Devourers, he'd need to hunt Tailed Beasts, and with Akatsuki's intelligence and support, things would be easier.
As for moral burden, he'd been hunted by the Five Great Nations' ninjas all along—he was used to being the scapegoat.
Not that his starting identity wasn't unlucky, but he wasn't the type to take a beating without hitting back. Capturing the Jinchuriki of the Five Great Nations was a solid counterattack.
"Calamity, do you have any objections to our plan?"
Pain's Rinnegan stared at Gusion as he spoke.
Gusion shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. I just want a place to stay. Kakuzu said there are many secret techniques and all kinds of intel in the organization. If I can get what I want, why not help out?"
Pain nodded in satisfaction. "Then you'll temporarily act with Kakuzu."